World no. 1 Roger set his eyes on Indian Wells’ third straight title in 2006. The Swiss took on Paradorn Srichaphan in the semi-finals and won a 6-2, 6-3 triumph in one hour for his 17th consecutive victory in the desert and the third final.
Federer got off to a shaky start against Nicolas Massu and his junior doubles partner Olivier Rochus. However, the Swiss made it to the last 16 and improved his performance against Richard Gasquet to reach the quarter-finals. He stormed off 6th seed Ivan Ljubicic for momentum and used him against the Bangkok native in the next duel.
With no wins at this level since Indian Wells 2005, Paradorn knocked down a few notable seeds to enter the final four. However, Roger was too strong, controlling the pace from start to finish and navigating the title clash. Srichaphan took a set from Federer in Bangkok last fall but didn’t stand a chance in this one.
The Swiss dropped 16 points in nine service games, suffering a break and stealing almost half of the return points.
Roger Federer reached his third straight final at Indian Wells in 2006.
Roger grabbed four breaks from seven chances and controlled the action from start to finish to book a place in the final.
Federer had the upper hand in the shorter and longer rallies. He tamed his shots well to hit more winners than unforced errors and add another victory to his fantastic season. Roger won the first game of the encounter after two with a service winner, and Paradorn fired four quick points to level the score at 1-1 and add his name to the scoreboard.
The Thai player was miles off that pace in Game 4. He sprayed a forehand error to suffer a break and push Federer 3-1 ahead before Roger landed an ace in game seven to hold the lead and open a 5-2 gap.
Serving to stay in the set in game eight, Srichaphan volleyed in to give another break to Federer, who needed less than 30 minutes to wrap up the opener. Suddenly, Paradorn broke Roger at 15 early in the second set and forced the rival’s error in game two to open a 2-0 advantage.
Federer pulled the break back in game four after Srichaphan double faulted, leveling the score at 2-2 and earning a boost. World no. 1 took a 3-2 lead with four winners and broke in the next when their rival missed a volley.
Roger held 5-2 and served for the win in game nine. The world’s best player sealed the deal with three winners and pitted the title against James Blake.